Into the Abyss
by Tayne
Summary: Valen Shadowbreath, a young tiefling from the planar city of Sigil, struggles to survive in a world of demons and devils. Eventually, his demonic heritage catches up to him as he is enslaved and forced to fight in the Blood Wars.
1. And so it begins

My first time posting here. The story is based off of what Valen has said in the game, and my own rather disturbed imagination. I hope to update every week or so. Enjoy!

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He awoke to a sharp, piercing scream. Curious and frightened, Valen cautiously crept down the stairs to find his mother's mangled corpse on the floor. Looming over the corpse of his mother was an angry demoness. He gasped in horror at the sight, and fell to his knees in tears. All the young tiefling had in the world was stripped away from him. The demoness, claws still bloody, gave Valen a quick smirk before vanishing, leaving behind a puff of smoke.

After a few hours, Valen arose from the bloody carpet, with no tears left to cry. He opened the brass door, and was nearly blinded by the City of the Plane's bright magical aura. In the city of Sigil, demons and devils are as common a sight on the streets as humans. Though common, Valen knew better to cross the path of a demon. His mother was enslaved by a being of the Abyss, and in her illness, was murdered by one. Valen had been taught that as a tiefling, it would be even harder to survive in the streets since demons and tieflings, young and old alike, were being recruited by crazed demons to fight in the Blood Wars in the Abyss. His mother told him never to leave home without her to protect him, but with her gone, Valen had little choice.

As a tiefling, Valen faced many challenges that both humans and demons would never have to even think about. Though he was mostly human, his demonic heritage was more prominent than in most others of his kind. He appeared to be human at first glance, but his demonic features; a pair of horns atop his head and a long, pointed tail, frightened away most human children his own age, and made him a target for demonic slavers. Without his mother to protect him, Valen would be an easy target for a demon slaver. Tieflings were considered to make better slaves than humans, since they are more durable and last longer.

Shortly after taking his first few steps outside, Valen witnessed the demoness who killed his mother being slain by a powerful Balor demon. He smirked a bit, and thought to himself, "What goes around, comes around." That smirk turned into an expression of terror as the Balor set its eyes on the tiefling. He ran as fast as he could, nearly tripping over his long, thin tail. Out of breath and panting, he stopped, and looked around to see if he had been pursued. Relieved to find that he was alone, Valen let his tired body fall to the ground, and, utterly exhausted, fell asleep in the street.

When he awoke, he found himself surrounded by group of human children, pointing and laughing at the drowsy tiefling.

"Look at that freak! He has horns and a freakin' tail! What a weirdo!" A chubby boy with curly blonde hair shouted in delight.

"Is he a demon or something? Nah, he looks pretty much human, other than he horns and tail." A tall, skinny boy said.

One of the boys picked up a long stick, and prodded Valen's deeply blushing face with it. "Stop that…" he sighed, brushing the stick away from his face.

"It can talk! That's kinda neat." The chubby boy said in wonder.

"Maybe we can sell it?" Added another of the boys.

As Valen went to stand up, the chubby boy stomped on his pointed tail, forcing him back down as he winced from the pain.

"It's real, then? He really is a demon boy!" Shouted the boy, thoroughly amused.

"I'm a tiefling, not a demon…" moaned Valen, rubbing his injured tail.

"What in the nine hells is 'tiefling'?" said the chubby boy, angered slightly at being corrected.

As Valen opened his mouth to answer the question, one of the boys chimed in, "It means he's a freak!"

Valen closed his bright blue eyes and let out a sigh. "It means I have some demon blood in me, that's all."

The chubby, blonde boy poked him again. This time, the stick hit one of Valen's curved horns. "So, you are a demon boy then, huh?" he said, grinning. "Do you have a name, or do demon boys not have names?"

"It's Valen, not like it's any of your business." Valen rubbed one of his horns, annoyed that it was there. Not that he really minded being a tiefling; not that he had a choice, but sometimes, like right now, he truly wished he was fully human, and not some sort of 'demon boy'.

"'Not like it's any of my business?" The boy said angrily. "Watch what you say, freak!"

Valen stood up, fists clenched at his sides. "Stop talking about me like that! My being part demon is not a weakness; it's a strength! And have you never seen a tiefling before? There are plenty of us in Sigil! I just look more demonic that most, but that doesn't make me any less human. And stop poking me, too! That's really annoying."

"Oh, so it thinks it can stand up for itself, then?" Said the chubby boy, a cruel grimace on his face. "Let's make it so he know better than that." He pulled back his fist, and punched Valen in the face, knocking him to the ground. As Valen tried to pull himself back up, another boy jumped on him, pinning him to the ground. Soon after, Valen lost consciousness.

When Valen awoke, he found himself covered in cuts and bruises. He slowly and painfully dragged himself from the cold, hard pavement, discovering that his right leg was broken and that his tail was twisted in an impossible position. Blinking to keep back tears of pain, he scurried off to the marketplace, cold and hungry.

The marketplace was bustling with humans, and louder than anything Valen could have imagined. He was starving, since he no longer had his mother to prepare meals for him, but had no money to buy food for himself. He knew, even though it was the wrong thing, that he had to steal to survive. He felt horrible about it, but he wanted to survive. He squeezed his way through a large crowd, thankful that there were so many people he didn't stand out. Towards the edge of the market area, there was a stand with a sign on it stating "Out to lunch". Valen seized the opportunity, and quickly snatched up a loaf of bread, shoving the whole thing into his mouth. He grabbed a few pieces of fruit, and put as many as would fit into his pockets. After he had as much as he could carry, he ran off, terrified of getting caught. At first he ran in the direction of his family's home, but remembering what had happened earlier, he let out a deep sigh and walked to the city core.

Valen sat down in the shade of a large tree. His leg was still aching from the beating earlier, and he could barely even move his tail. Ignoring the pain, he looked up at the sky, and counted the poofy clouds. He wished he was a cloud, and became one for a brief moment of bliss… Soaring through the sky, no worries; just watching the world pass before him. But he then snapped back to reality when he heard a deep, raspy voice, and saw a dark form looming over him.

"Hey, kid. I saw you back at the marketplace. I know what you did."

A look of horror spread over Valen's flushed face. "Are you… Going to arrest me? Please, I was starving, my mother was killed earlier today and—"

The dark form revealed itself to be a dark-skinned man, his dark hair in dreadlocks and his face unshaved. He wore gold-toned chainmail armor over a loose beige tunic. "Relax, kid. I ain't here for anything like that. When I saw you at the marketplace, I knew you had potential, so I thought, why not recruit you to join my guild? You seem to need a place to stay anyway- and you said your mom's dead? Well, if that's not a great reason to join my guild, than what is? We could always use a skilled tiefling in the guild! Come to think of it… There aren't any tieflings in the guild yet! Just humans… But a tiefling like you could a great addition to the guild. What do you think?"

Valen looked up at the man, a wide grin on his face. Perhaps in this guild, he could finally find some friends. Because of his demonic heritage, all his potential friends avoided him altogether. "I'll join!" Valen shouted enthusiastically.

The man nodded in approval. "I'll take you right away, kid. You ready to go?"

"Yeah! Lets go!" Valen was thrilled to have someone actually want him for something. He was thrilled to be useful.

The dark-skin man's expression turned from one of joviality to a serious grimace. "I must blindfold you. If you choose to leave us and reveal our location, you will be killed. Immediately. You are about to join Sigil's Guild of Thieves. This is no joking matter, kid."

A bead of sweat formed on Valen's pale brow. He had no idea he was about to join a thief's guild. But, he had no other choice. He had already proven his worth as a thief, and he had nowhere else to turn. His mother was all he had, and without her, the young tiefling was vulnerable, and had no one to protect him. His choice was to join the guild, or be captured as a slave and be forced to fight against the devils of Baator in the Blood Wars, which to him was a fate worse than death. To succumb to his demon blood and lose his humanity, to Valen, was like losing his soul. He looked to the barren ground nervously, and after a few moments, raised his head, and gave a single nod.

The man wrapped a blindfold around Valen's eyes, and put his hand on the child's back, leading him into the unknown.


	2. Descent

Alright, chapter 2! After reading my reviews, I noticed that most of my readers thought that Valen was too wussy. Well, he's about eight years old at the start of the story. Anyway, want him to be weak and innocent at first, and then develop into the untrusting, hardened warrior we know today. Also, how could he be so sweet at times if he was always a badass? Well, read on…

-

After what seemed to be an eternity, the blindfold was finally removed from Valen's bright blue eyes. He blinked in the light, and collapsed. He was still injured from his previous beating, and the pain finally had gotten to him. Immediately, a cleric of Mask, dressed in robes of green and violet, walked up to young tiefling, and cast a healing spell on him.

"I am Shayaryn, a priestess of Mask. You will be fine." She said gently, her words soothing to the tiefling's ears. Her soft features glowed in the dim light. Her appearance alone relaxed Valen, as he slowly slipped back into unconsciousness.

A smile spread across Shayaryn's beautiful face. She lifted a sleeping Valen into her arms, and lay him down on a gorgeously ornamented bed.

When Valen awoke, he found himself dressed in the clothes of noble, his brown tunic and breeches in a heap on the floor. He didn't know where his new clothing had come from, but of what he had learned of thieves, they are a rather 'resourceful' people. He also found a number of unfamiliar objects, including what appeared to be a set of many different keys and lockpicks, lying on the small table next to his bed. Valen blinked a few times, still trying to figure out how he had gotten in the luxurious room, when he heard a rhythmic knock on the door. The door opened, and revealed the familiar dark-skinned man who had brought the tiefling to the guild.

"Hey, kid. Welcome to the guild. I'm Ujhopiji." He bore the same look on his face as when he had first encountered Valen in the streets of Sigil; a wide grin that stretched ear to ear. "You probably have got a few questions, eh kid? But before you start asking, I got one for you. What's your name?"

Valen kicked at a dustbunny on the floor, his tail swaying nervously. "Umm… It's Valen. Err, Valen Shadowbreath. Can I ask my questions now?"

"Sure, sure. Valen." Ujhopiji chuckled a bit at the young tiefling's innocence. He had never met such an innocent demonspawn before. Weren't tieflings supposed to tough, and fierce? Perhaps that didn't go for children. But even so, the innocence of the child before him seemed to reach into the man's cold heart. Could he really make such a creature into a thief? Frowning, Ujhopiji shook the thought from his head. Of course he could. It was his job, as a member of the guild, to train all new recruits to be stealthy thieves; masters of the shadows. Ujhopiji laughed hardily as he remembered the tiefling standing in front of him, trying to regain his attention by whining rather loudly.

"Okay, okay, okay. I get the message." The dark man said, trying to hold back rumbling laughter. "Sorry, I spaced out a bit there."

Seeing the large man before him laugh, Valen couldn't help but do the same. A thin lock of blood -red hair fell into his face, and slowly found its way into his open mouth. In a mix of laughter and coughing, Valen spat the hair out of his mouth, and managed to pull himself back together. "Ummm… What's that stuff over there?" He pointed to the thieves' tools on the bedside table.

"Those are the tools of the trade. Lock picks, skeleton keys, everything else a thief needs. They'll be yours soon. But, before we let you keep those new clothes, and give you the full privileges of a member of this fine guild, we must test you. See if you have what it takes to be a thief. Your first test will be in an hour. You will be interrogated, to see if you can handle the pressure." Ujhopiji's jovial expression had turned stern and serious.

Valen stared at the ground again. "I have another question… Ummmm…" He held his tail in his hands, letting it slip from one hand to another slowly. As he let it fall, he looked up, despair in his glittering blue eyes. He didn't want to be a thief at all. He just wanted to be with his mother, but that wasn't possible. She was dead. He was scared of what may happen in the guild. This was his first time away from home without his mother; it was a strange, frightening experience for the young tiefling. He prepared to ask the question he dreaded the answer to more than anything.

"Yes? What is it?" Ujhopiji questioned, getting impatient

"Will I… Have to kill anyone?"

The answer was blunt. "Yes."

He tapped his claws, perplexed. "Well, since that bitch killed her servant, it looks like her son is up for grabs. Wouldn't it be interesting if I gained the son of her best, deceased, servant? That would come as a surprise to her. And I hear the child's a tiefling." Deep rumbling laughter echoed throughout the caves of Grimash't's lair. "A tiefling… Wouldn't it be an interesting twist is a turned him into a killer, and sent him after his mother's master? Heh. I would finally be rid of that ever-so-irritating rival of mine." The demon grinned toothily, revealing bloodied rows of dagger-like fangs. "I suppose I could simply do it myself, but that would be too easy. And that tiefling…" He gazed into a large, translucent crystal. Images seemed to form and reform across its glossy surface. "From what I've observed, he could prove to be a very interesting plaything."

An hour had passed since Valen spoke with Ujhopiji. He had waited restlessly for an hour, and now it as time for his first test of the guild. Ujhopiji and a familiar face, Shayaryn, the cleric from earlier, approached Valen. Ujhopiji was grim, and Shayaryn was twitching like a nervous squirrel.

"It's time for your first test, kid. You ready?"

Valen nodded to the dark man.

"You are to break into the home of Hardal Jaraft. Take his family's sword; it's covered in runes, so you'll recognize it. Kill him if you are caught." He handed Valen a glittering, red-tinted dagger. "You'll need those tools by the bed. If you fail on your first mission, you're out of the guild. When your mission is complete, an agent will escort you back. We won't blindfold you then. After that, we'll let you keep your gear, and you'll have all the privileges of a guild member, though your testing won't be over. Let's go."

Once again, Ujhopiji placed the blindfold over Valen's eyes. When the blindfold was removed, Valen found that the man had disappeared into the starless night. In front him was a massive, heavily guarded mansion. Two human guards stood watch in front of the towering gates. Valen managed to use his small stature his advantage, and snuck around the guards through the open gate, unnoticed. He fumbled with the tools in his pocket.

Ujhopiji wiped a bead of sweat from his dark brow with a callused hand. He could barely see anything in the dark caves. "I kinda feel bad for that kid, and what I have to do to him. He really did seem like he'd make it far in the guild, but if I don't do what the Master says, that's it for both my beloved guild and me. The kid's demonspawn, anyway. He'll probably grow up to be an evil killer, so I suppose this is for the best."

As he approached his master's lair, deep within the series of caves, a pungent odor; brimstone, he assumed, blasted out from the cave. A great Balor demon stood before him. "So, do you have the boy?" Grimash't questioned Ujhopiji.

"Yes… He's currently being tested. He should be back soon."

"Good. Let's see how he does. If he survives… In one year, he is mine. He will be my new plaything… Since I accidentally killed the last one." Grimash't eyed a mangled, decaying corpse on the ground.

"Yes, m'lord." Ujhopiji gave a deep bow, and left the caves quickly and without hesitation.

Inside the Jaraft home, Valen had made his way past the guards and into the master bedroom. He spied the weapon he had been sent to retrieve above the large bed. As he reached for it, a young, blonde girl, half-asleep, walked into the room. "Daddy… I wanna glass of water…" Her eyes widened in shock as she saw the tiefling reaching for her family's heirloom. "Da… Da… DADDY!" she screeched. Valen ran over to the girl, and covered her mouth with his hand.

"No, don't yell!" he whispered into her ear. "If he catches me, I'll have to kill him!" She bit his hand, and he yelped in pain.

"Get away from me, you freak!" the young noble shouted.

A flurry of footsteps came from the stairway. Terrified of failure, Valen grabbed the sword, and opened the window. If he jumped from such a height, he could be injured badly, or even killed… But that was a risk he was willing to take. As he stepped up to the windowsill, he felt a cold hand around his throat, and a foot pinning his tail to the ground.

"Drop the sword, demonspawn. Unless you wanna die right here, that is." a gruff voice whispered into his pointed ear. Valen was immobilized, and defenseless. He pulled his dagger from the sheath at his hip with a free hand. Holding back tears, he shoved his dagger into the belly of Hardal Jaraft. The grip on this throat loosened, and he removed the dagger from the corpse. The young girl collapsed into tears. Valen sheathed his dagger, and ran over to her.

"Sorry… I had to do it…" he said softly. "I… never wanted to kill anyone. I've never killed anyone before. Sorry your dad had to be the first."

The girl slapped him across the face, and ran downstairs. Valen followed her down, and walked back outside into the night, enchanted sword in hand, and was met by what seemed to be a talking shadow.

"Good job, Shadowbreath. I saw what happened in there. Good, clean kill. Nice. I'm wondering about the girl, though. Why'd you stop to talk to her? Compassion is a sign of weakness in a thief."

Valen stared at his feet. The man started walking back to the guild, and Valen quickly followed.


End file.
